EB-2 India: where the cutoff stands and how long the wait runs
Enter your priority date from the I-140 approval notice to see whether you can file Form I-485 this month and what the history says about the wait.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and past error
Forecast
No reliable forecast
7 months behind the cutoff. Past forecasts for this case missed too often to publish a date.
| Final Action Date | November 1, 2013 |
|---|---|
| Date for Filing | January 15, 2015 |
| I-485 this month (USCIS uses Dates for Filing) | You can file |
| Past error at 6 months behind (our model) | ±6 mo., range held 67 % |
| I-485 employment, national average (August 2026) | 11.8 months |
| Government fees (paper filing, with work permit and travel permit) | $3,645 |
How this was calculated
- The October 2026 Final Action Date for EB-2, India, is November 1, 2013; your priority date is June 1, 2014, 7 months later.
- For each of the 117 months of the last 10 years, we measured how long this cutoff took to move forward by that same distance. Half the cases took 11 months; 20% took 4 months or less; 80% took 1 year 11 months or less.
- Back-test from October 2012 to October 2025: for people 6 months behind, the middle estimate was off by a median of 6 months (a naive “last 12 months” rule: 17), and the range held the real date 67 % of the time. That fails our publication rule, so no date is shown.
- Fees: I-140 $715 + I-140 $600 + I-485 $1,440 + I-765 $260 + I-131 $630 (USCIS Form G-1055, edition 10/07/26, and State Department visa fees).
Estimate from public data, not legal advice. Your case may differ (cross-chargeability, CSPA, waivers). For advice, see a licensed immigration attorney or a DOJ-accredited representative. Not affiliated with USCIS or the Department of State. Method and past error
In the 2026 bulletins, EB-2 India is the employment category with the widest gap between the Indian cutoff and the rest of the world. The Final Action Date is November 1, 2013, while applicants born anywhere else are at January 1, 2025: the same degree, the same employer and the same petition can mean a wait of more than a decade only because of the country of birth. This is the effect of the 7% per-country cap, which India hits every year in EB-2 and EB-3. For filing, USCIS currently lets applicants use the Dates for Filing chart, where the Indian date is January 15, 2015, so someone with a priority date between the two can file Form I-485, get a work permit and travel document, and wait inside the United States for the Final Action Date to reach them. Our back-test shows why we do not print a single date: from October 2012 to October 2025, forecasts for people a year behind missed by a median of 12 months.
A queue measured in decades
Priority dates are not a ticket number: they move with the yearly supply of visas and with demand that was filed years ago. For EB-2 India, the cutoff stood at May 1, 2005 in October 2015 and at September 1, 2009 in October 2020. Today it reads November 1, 2013. Measured against the bulletin date itself, the queue is about 12.9 years long, and it has been more than ten years long for most of the last decade. The latest bulletin moved the date by 61 days forward.
Retrogression is part of the history
Since December 2001 the Indian EB-2 date has gone backwards 19 times. The largest single drop came in February 2006, when the cutoff lost about 53 months in one bulletin. The most famous episode is July 2007, when the category was briefly listed as Current (C) and hundreds of thousands of people filed at once. Each of these drops came after a period of fast movement, usually near the end of a fiscal year in September, when the State Department sees how many numbers are left. How retrogression works.
What the two charts mean for you this month
The Final Action Date decides when a green card can be approved. The Date for Filing, January 15, 2015 this month, decides when you may hand in Form I-485, but only in a month when USCIS says so on its filing-charts page. People with a priority date between the two dates are in a waiting room inside the system: they hold a pending I-485, can change jobs under AC21 portability after 180 days, and renew their work permit at the reduced fee while the cutoff catches up. More on the two charts.
Why our calculator may refuse to give a date
We tested the forecast for this case month by month from October 2012 to October 2025, each time with only the bulletins known that month. For people two years behind the cutoff, the middle estimate was off by a median of 21 months, and the range held the real date 75 % of the time. That is not good enough to promise a month, so for most EB-2 India dates the calculator shows the cutoff, your distance from it and the filing status, then says plainly that there is no reliable forecast. If a date shows up, it is because that distance passed the test.
EB-2 in the October 2026 bulletin
| Country | Final Action | Dates for Filing | Change this month |
|---|---|---|---|
| All other countries | January 1, 2025 | March 15, 2026 | ▼ 608 days |
| China (mainland born) | October 1, 2021 | January 1, 2023 | ▲ 30 days |
| India | November 1, 2013 | January 15, 2015 | ▲ 61 days |
| Mexico | January 1, 2025 | March 15, 2026 | ▼ 608 days |
| Philippines | January 1, 2025 | March 15, 2026 | ▼ 608 days |
Every October since 2002
| Bulletin | Final Action Date | Years behind the bulletin |
|---|---|---|
| October 2002 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2003 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2004 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2005 | Current (C) | – |
| October 2006 | June 15, 2002 | 4.3 |
| October 2007 | April 1, 2004 | 3.5 |
| October 2008 | April 1, 2003 | 5.5 |
| October 2009 | Unavailable (U) | – |
| October 2010 | May 8, 2006 | 4.4 |
| October 2011 | July 15, 2007 | 4.2 |
| October 2012 | Unavailable (U) | – |
| October 2013 | June 15, 2008 | 5.3 |
| October 2014 | May 1, 2009 | 5.4 |
| October 2015 | May 1, 2005 | 10.4 |
| October 2016 | January 15, 2007 | 9.7 |
| October 2017 | September 15, 2008 | 9.0 |
| October 2018 | March 26, 2009 | 9.5 |
| October 2019 | May 12, 2009 | 10.4 |
| October 2020 | September 1, 2009 | 11.1 |
| October 2021 | September 1, 2011 | 10.1 |
| October 2022 | April 1, 2012 | 10.5 |
| October 2023 | January 1, 2012 | 11.7 |
| October 2024 | July 15, 2012 | 12.2 |
| October 2025 | April 1, 2013 | 12.5 |
| October 2026 | November 1, 2013 | 12.9 |
How our forecast did for this case
| Distance behind the cutoff | Median error, our model | Median error, “last 12 months” rule | Range held the real date | Start months tested | Published? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 months | 6 months | 17 months | 67 % | 156 | No reliable forecast |
| 12 months | 12 months | 34 months | 77 % | 156 | No reliable forecast |
| 24 months | 21 months | 54 months | 75 % | 156 | No reliable forecast |
| 48 months | 41 months | 82 months | 80 % | 156 | No reliable forecast |